


we laugh and we cry and we break

by KeeperofSeeds



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drabble Sequence, Empress Rey, Found Family, Gen, Jedi Leia Organa, Movie: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Redeemed Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25064722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeeperofSeeds/pseuds/KeeperofSeeds
Summary: Rey accepts Sideous' offer. But her found family will not let her go so easily.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Sheev Palpatine & Rey
Kudos: 7
Collections: #ficwip 5k





	we laugh and we cry and we break

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [wait for it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25408273) by [KeeperofSeeds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeeperofSeeds/pseuds/KeeperofSeeds). 



> Kind of a continuation/self remix of my [wait for it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25408273) drabble. Decided I wasn't quite done with the scene and wanted to dive into a little AU, while continuing the drabble format. Each character pov is 100 words.
> 
> Title is lyrics from Hamilton
> 
> We laugh and we cry and we break  
> And we make our mistakes.  
> And if there's a reason I'm by her side  
> When so many have tried  
> Then I'm willing to wait for it.

Rey can feel them dying. Her friends and allies. She can see the ships in the sky. The bursts of fire as they explode, lives blinking out of existence. The Force hums and buzzes all around her, but it feels nothing like her meditations in the forest.   
  
"Join me," he says again. The old man, her Grandfather. Someone who'd searched for her, had been waiting for her.   
She knows all about waiting.   
Now he waits for an answer and her friends wait for a miracle and she waits for the Force to whisper, for it to show her the way. 

* * *

Ben Solo races through the black tunnels, one arm wrapped around his ribs. He wasn't fast enough, he couldn't get back to her in time. It was too late.

Rey was lost.

He had to get out, had to tell someone. He cannot stop Palpatine alone. He was an arrogant fool to think so before, and now he is paying for it. Wounded and tossed aside, he's lost the one person he'd felt any connection to in years.

He'd been in Rey's head. He knows what she craves. Family was her weakness, and it turns out, it was his too.

* * *

Across the Galaxy Leia Organa goes silent, the orders she was relaying dying on her tongue. She feels the shift of the battle moments before panicked voices fill the comms. Their yells fading away as a new voice makes itself know. One she hasn't heard in years.

"Mother…" he says.

"I need your help," he says.

These are some of the words she's waited years to hear. Even now, after everything, in the midst of a battle led by his people against her own...she cannot turn him away. It can't be too late for him. She can meet him halfway. A Mother's love might reach where other's failed. But if not...she will sacrifice herself on this alter. She is not afraid to join Han and end her fight. She will leave behind others to take up the flame. She has faith in their strength.

General Organa leaves the base. She has not headed a mission for many years now, but despite the protestations and pleading, this task is one she can no longer turn away from. There is no one else.

Han is gone.

Luke too, is gone.

It's up to her now. She will go to her son.

* * *

Ben waits on the surface of the planet, near his ship. He's an easy target for anyone here, but easy to find is what he's hoping for in this moment. He can feel a flicker in the Force, the growing warmth of her presence, the signal she is drawing nearer. He'd almost forgotten that feeling. Too many years spent turning away, feeding his anger and sense of betrayal...all of it melts away at the sight of her. She steps off the fighter arms open and he falls to his knees into her embrace. Her arms around him fight the hungry Dark.

* * *

Rey stares into the Emperor's eyes as they dim. Then, a wall of power flings her back onto the stone floor.

She feels the Dark slip into her skin and coat her like oil. Choking and overwhelming, the sense of power sparking from her fingertips again. She tries to fight it, to pull back, but then...she hears Them. Grandfather's voice echoing inside her head, others more ancient than she'd imagined. Pushing to make themselves known, to feed her fear and hatred.

_We can save them / we can end this war / you will never be alone again / together we fight / together-_

* * *

Leia is tired.

She has been fighting for so long. But she cannot give in now, not when her son has finally come back to her. She doesn't know what Rey did or said to him, but hopefully they will have time to look back together. First, they must rescue Rey. She lets Ben down into the suffocating Darkness to find Rey, sitting on the throne, staring blankly forward, her eyes gone black. Her hands raised, lightning pouring up into the sky. Leia opens herself to the Force and together, she and Ben move in.

* * *

Rey falls to her knees, her hands burning her mind screaming in a dozen voices. She shatters, a broken cup in the dirt, losing everything and everyone. Lost, and alone in the darkness once more and she cries out too, not willing to lose what she'd just found.

But then, she hears another voice...

She opens her eyes to find Ben kneeling in front of her. Not lost, not gone into the pit, but here, chanting her name. Her head falls to the side and she sees...Leia. The General is here, one hand wrapped around hers, eyes closed, radiating Light.

* * *

Ben rushes to catch Rey and she falls, thrashing and fighting, the Sith within her reluctant to be driven out from their host. He calls her name as he tries to hold her still, to ground her. He can feel his Mother shielding them both, just in case, and it's like being wrapped in a warm blanket.

The black fades from Rey's eyes and she blinks at him in confusion. His mother comes to kneel beside him and takes up her hand, lending her comfort and another push of Light. Ben can't remember the last time he felt such contentment.

* * *

Leia's tiredness is undercut with the thrill of success. They'd done it. Saved Rey, pushed the Sith back once more. She could almost feel Luke's hand on her shoulder as she fought side by side with Ben. But she can still sense the ongoing battle above them. "We need to get back," she says gently and reaches to help Rey up. She still seems to be in shock. "We're here, Rey." She reassures her. "We can win this. Together. As we should have long before now." Rey looks to Ben who nods, and together they go to end the War.


End file.
